District of DeBonis

What happened to Paul Mannina?

Mike DeBonis — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:43:52 GMT

Hours after a Superior Court judge ordered Labor Department lawyer Paul Mannina held in the D.C. jail on charges of beating and sexual assaulting a co-worker, he was found dead in his cell, his throat slit. Authorities continue to investigate the … Continue reading →

Food trucks are here to stay

Mike DeBonis — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:10:51 GMT

Updated 3:45 p.m. with comment from Kline and Ribeiro After more than four years of sometimes rancorous debate, food trucks on Tuesday made a major advance toward becoming a government-sanctioned, street-legal fixture of the District’s culinary scene. The D.C. Council voted … Continue reading →

‘Dark things’ in Forest Hills

Mike DeBonis — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:56:12 GMT

What accounts for a rare violent crime in the leafy Forest Hills neighborhood of upper Northwest? Details revealed in court Monday in the case of a shocking home invasion and sexual assault tell the tale of an assignation gone very … Continue reading →

Primary election date change proposal appears to be dead

Mike DeBonis — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:49:58 GMT

The city’s top elected officials held high hopes that next year’s primary election might be moved from its current date of April 1, via legislation introduced in April by D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and subsequently endorsed by Mayor … Continue reading →

Vote on living wage bill delayed a week

Mike DeBonis — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:32:57 GMT

The highly pitched debate over whether the city’s largest retailers should be required to pay their employees more will continue at least one more week. Supporters had hoped to have the D.C. Council take the first of two votes Tuesday … Continue reading →

A fuller accounting

Mike DeBonis — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:46:33 GMT

Thirty years ago, Jeffrey E. Thompson founded an accounting firm and proceeded to build Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio and Associates into one of the largest minority-owned firms in the country. The house Thompson built began to crumble when federal agents raided … Continue reading →

Farewell, Washington Examiner

Mike DeBonis — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:00:48 GMT

Today is the last day of local coverage for the Washington Examiner, which delivered government accountability journalism in 450-word doses for eight years — and helped fill this reporter’s links roundups for nearly five of them. Whether you remember it … Continue reading →

Michael A. Brown will not be charged in campaign probe

Mike DeBonis — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:50:42 GMT

Lost in the drama over Michael A. Brown’s bribery plea was a notable revelation: Brown will most likely not be facing charges in the disappearance of $113,950 from his reelection campaign account last year. U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. … Continue reading →

All eyes on Vincent Orange

Mike DeBonis — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:50:48 GMT

With Michael A. Brown’s bribery plea returning attention to the ongoing federal corruption probes, the big question is: Who’s next? D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large) has not been named in court papers as being connected to the activity thus … Continue reading →

Northeast developers eyed in campaign finance probe

Mike DeBonis — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 23:08:04 GMT

Federal investigators appear to have opened a new front in their probe of campaign finance matters in the District. Two persons familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to its sensitivity said prosecutors have issued subpoenas … Continue reading →

Jack Evans discusses his mayoral run

Mike DeBonis — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:35:29 GMT

D.C. Council member Jack Evans on Saturday became the second third candidate to officially enter the 2014 mayoral race. Ahead of his formal announcement, Evans (D-Ward 2) sat for an hour-long interview in his Wilson Building office on why he’s … Continue reading →

Where have all the students gone?

Mike DeBonis — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:47:02 GMT

As a part of their plan to close 13 underenrolled schools, D.C. Public Schools officials have pledged to engage in a robust outreach effort to keep as many of the 2,000 displaced students as possible within the DCPS system. But … Continue reading →

A ‘piece of the piece’

Mike DeBonis — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:00:30 GMT

Papers filed in federal court Monday recount in rich detail Michael Brown’s felonious scheme to trade his assistance pressuring city bureaucrats for $55,000. There’s the cash-stuffed coffee mugs. The assignations at the Channel Inn and the Hamilton. Brown’s seeming desperation for more cash, badgering … Continue reading →

Photos: Michael A. Brown takes bribes from undercover federal agents

Mike DeBonis — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:43:52 GMT

Former D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown pleaded guilty Monday to a federal bribery charge, admitting to taking $55,000 in return for helping two purported businessmen navigate the District government bureaucracy. They were, in fact, undercover FBI agents, and now … Continue reading →

A shock but not a surprise

Mike DeBonis — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:17:23 GMT

All the signs were there: Lawsuits, tax liens, missed rent payments, mortgage troubles. But Michael A. Brown brushed off his panoply of financial issues over the years, happy to let the perception bloom that he was a well-off guy who … Continue reading →

Down goes Michael Brown

Mike DeBonis — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:00:28 GMT

He may be gone from the D.C. Council, but federal prosecutors had not forgotten. Former city lawmaker Michael A. Brown told his closest supporters Thursday night that he intends to plead guilty to a serious federal crime after accepting a payment offered … Continue reading →

Muriel Bowser’s political queries irk Gray administration

Mike DeBonis — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:12:21 GMT

A D.C. Council committee has asked mayoral nominees to a city housing board detailed questions about their political activities and fundraising, raising sharp objections from Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s administration. The conflict surrounds a five-page questionnaire sent from the council’s … Continue reading →

Frager’s on fire

Mike DeBonis — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:20:04 GMT

The walls of Frager’s Hardware still stand this morning along the 1100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue SE, but not much else has been saved. A devastating fire ripped through the three-building Frager’s complex at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, with flames were still visible four hours … Continue reading →

Liveblog: Fire at Frager’s Hardware

Mike DeBonis — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:09:23 GMT

Frager’s Hardware, the iconic Capitol Hill retailer whose narrow aisles and stuffed shelves have served residents for 90 years, caught fire at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The blaze sent dark smoke into the sky, visible from across the city and … Continue reading →

‘Put it on, put it on,’ urges D.C. condom commercial

Mike DeBonis — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:25:18 GMT

The D.C. Department of Health — the folks who brought you the news that “fake weed” will turn you into a zombie, among other public-service messages — is taking to the airwaves to tell D.C. residents to use more condoms. The 30- … Continue reading →

The marijuana arrest capital of the U.S.

Mike DeBonis — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:54:53 GMT

In very few places are more people arrested for possessing marijuana than in the District of Columbia. And of the thousands arrested each year, African Americans are more than eight times more likely to be arrested than whites — a … Continue reading →

D.C. Council will start reporting tickets, other gifts

Mike DeBonis — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:24:56 GMT

District legislators in the coming weeks will start making a more thorough and public effort to disclose gifts, including invitations to top-dollar banquets and other events. The D.C. Council’s top lawyer, V. David Zvenyach, told lawmakers at a breakfast meeting … Continue reading →

Sexual assault reported at West End firehouse

Mike DeBonis — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:09:18 GMT

The latest bad news to hit the Fire and Emergency Medical Services department involves the alleged sexual assault of a female firefighter at a West End firehouse Friday. The allegation itself — that two, possibly three fellow firefighters groped the woman while … Continue reading →

The chartering chancellor

Mike DeBonis — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 13:36:27 GMT

The unabated growth of charter schools in the District could soon enter a new phase, with Mayor Vincent C. Gray now proposing to grant Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s wish to become her own chartering authority. The chancellor’s chartering power would … Continue reading →

Kenyan McDuffie dismisses employee over debit-card misuse

Mike DeBonis — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:09:43 GMT

D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie dismissed an aide Thursday after he spent $225 from the legislator’s constituent service fund on personal expenses. McDuffie (D-Ward 5) said in a Thursday interview and in a Friday news release that the issue was … Continue reading →